The first signs of spring are finally here, and we’re breathing a sigh of relief at our store in Wayland, MA. Spring means the end of snow, cold, and the gloomy pall that can overtake the winter months. Finally, we can put away our boots and scarves and get a much needed dose of sunlight.

Spring also means the arrival of Easter and Passover, two holidays we get excited about at Whole Foods Market. We also start setting up our grilling and gardening displays for all of the early birds that want to get a jump on burgers and bulbs.

Some of my favorite things about spring in our store are the seasonal foods. Local produce becomes more abundant, seasonal items like Spring Onions make an appearance, and everything tastes a little fresher. Spring is also a great season to invest in some home-brightening flowers, and we always have great deals on bouquets.

But I have to admit, my favorite thing about this season is that sometimes, on my day off, it’s warm enough that I can wear flip flops. Here are some signs of Spring from around my store:

What are your favorite signs of Spring?

It’s only the middle of February, but here in New England — and in much of the country — it feels like we’ve been permanently relocated to the arctic.

At our stores, protocol is different on a snow day, but the preparation starts the day before. As a store manager, I pay close attention to the weather all year round, but especially in the winter – lots of things need to be adjusted in the event of a storm. When we get word that snow is coming, we start by modifying our orders to make sure we have enough of everyone’s essential items, such as bottled water, milk, toilet paper and baby food.

Next, we take a look at our staffing. The day before the storm is typically quite busy, as customers understandably want to get their shopping in before the roads get icy. To keep up with demand, we call in extra Team Members to make sure everyone gets what they need. Depending on when the storm is going to hit, we also shift schedules around. We make sure Team Members who live close to the store are scheduled to work opening shifts if the store is going to hit overnight, and we make sure anyone with a particularly bad commute is scheduled to have the day off or to go home early. The safety of our Team Members is always our top priority.

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No matter what your team loyalty, everyone likes a “Game Day” party. And due to licensing issues, our team members have the opportunity to get really creative during our preparations for the Big Day. We can’t say “Super Bowl” or “Super Sunday” or a host of other licensed names in our marketing displays, and that makes for a lot of fun. Keep an eye out for the unique euphemisms throughout the store. Referring to everybody’s favorite Sunday as Game Day, The Big Game, or The Day New England Will Win Another Championship are just a few of our options here the North Atlantic region.

Of course, leading up to that one particular Sunday is the playoff season, and at our stores we take full advantage of the fun. We encourage team members to honor their favorite teams by wearing team hats on game day, create tailgating themed displays, and hold themed events. For example, at my store we are holding a special tasting event in honor of Coach Appreciation Week – a nice complement to playoff season. Our team members will dress in sports themed attire and create a tasty sample worthy of any athlete – we’ve even invited some local coaches to come to the store to enjoy the event.

We’re also playing up our Touchdown favorites with some creative merchandising – wings anyone? Party platters and extreme value deals are in abundance, so everyone can put together a great Game Day feast.

One thing that can be tough for some folks during this part of football season is the food. We’ve all over-indulged — at least a little — during the holiday season, and might be trying to watch our calories a bit. In our stores, we’ve been focusing on our Health Starts Here program and looking to our healthy eating team members to help us lighten up traditional favorites. In my store, Turkey Chili, Salsa with Lentil Chips, and Nachos made with naturally-light Fromage Blanc are just a few of the healthier options available.  A new recipe this year is Tandoori Chicken Wings with Yogurt Sauce — still satisfying but a little lighter than a typical buffalo sauce and blue cheese combination.

Personally, I’m a Pittsburgh fan, so on that fateful Big Game Day, I’ll be rooting for the Black and Gold. Who will you be cheering for…and what will you be eating?

The day before Thanksgiving is our busiest day here at Whole Foods Market, and one of my favorite days of the whole year. It is the day my team and I have been working toward for months, with the excitement building more each day. It is non-stop action for us in the stores: readying holiday orders, stocking the shelves and making sure each customer gets exactly what they need to make their holiday perfect. It is also a day that we remember how important our customers are to us.

We are always thankful for you, our customers — your feedback, your support, and your help in making Whole Foods Market such an amazing place to shop. This year in particular we want to thank each customer for telling us what they like — and don’t like — enabling us to learn, grow and make each store and product exactly what you want it to be.

Today at the stores, when you are picking up your holiday treats, feel free to talk to our Team Members about what you are thankful for — or what you wish was a little different. Perhaps some of our Team Members will share what they are thankful for as well.

Have a happy, healthy, and delicious Thanksgiving everyone!

In the grocery business, the summer months can be slower than at other times of the year. After all, the summer is an excellent time to go on vacation, spend your afternoons at the beach and grill dinner in your backyard. We feel that way too! That’s why at my store, as well as at Whole Foods Market stores across the country, we bring summer treats like cookouts, farmers’ markets and other fun stuff right to our customers all summer long.

Every Friday afternoon, my Wayland, MA, store features a farmers’ market with local produce. Run by our Produce Assistant Team Leader John, customers can pick from amazing local corn, tomatoes and many other seasonal treats available that week. John shares his expertise with anyone who has a question, and trust me, he has the answers.  He works closely with our local farms — Davidian and Atlas — to bring in the best of the best. And here’s a special tip from our Produce Team Leader: “I can’t think of anything better or more consistent than white nectarines this summer. I have been eating them all season and I haven’t had a bad one in the bunch. Crisp and refreshing — really delicious!” Read the rest of this entry »

At Whole Foods Market, one of our seven Core Values is: To Support Team Member Happiness and Excellence — an important goal that we put at the forefront of our business every day. To help us strengthen this value, each store dedicates seven days each year to “Team Member Appreciation Week.”

At my store, the week’s activities are planned by store leadership as well as the store’s TIME group — Team Member Involvement Means Excellence. Team Members from all different departments meet and bounce ideas off of one another. What kinds of things would mean the most to their teammates? Free ice cream one day? The ability to pick the store’s radio station for their shift? A week of VIP parking in front of the store? After TIME gathers the ideas and suggestions of the store’s Team Members, it is up to Store Leadership to put these plans into action. Here’s how our week turned out this year.

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For the past few weeks, we’ve been cleaning at my store. Not just the normal cleaning that we do every day, the clutter cleansing, head clearing, let-the-sunshine-in kind of cathartic purging that can only be known as spring cleaning. Where once stood stacks of firewood, now rises racks of seeds — geraniums, marigolds, morning glories. Displays of hot cocoa mix and marshmallows have come down, and end caps (the displays that you see on the ends of our grocery aisles) highlighting chicken broth and spice for soups have been moved back to their normal places on the shelves. All to make room for the first harbingers of spring — the celebrations of Passover and Easter.

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If there is one thing I love about winter, it’s snow, and this year there has been no shortage of the white stuff in the northeast. But it might surprise you to know one of the reasons why I love snow. It’s not because I’m a skier, or a champion snowman builder, or an ice fisherman. Nope, it’s because I like to bag groceries, and there is no more interesting time to do some bagging than right before a snow storm.

Think about it: when the possibility of being stuck in your house arises, how do you prepare? You run to the grocery store and fill up a few bags with your snow day essentials! Here at Whole Foods Market, we prepare for a snow storm by making sure we have everything you need, and by calling in extra help to get everyone in and out as quickly as possible! This winter we’ve had a few storms, which always makes for exciting and busy days. Here’s an example of the types of bags I see on the days before a big snow fall:

The Baby Bag: tons of baby food, milk and diapers, diapers, diapers!

The Single Guy Bag: toilet paper, frozen pizza and chocolate chip cookies.

The Family Bag: Water, macaroni and cheese, cans of soup, multi-vitamins, chocolate milk, cupcakes and stew meat.

The Unexplainable Bag: 20 heads of broccoli.

Personally, my own bag contains ice cream, pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, a loaf of bread and wine (where available). Read the rest of this entry »

I love New Year’s resolutions, I really do. After months of holiday decadence, resolutions give me the chance to think about what I want to do better in the coming year. This January, Whole Foods has really helped me – and my team members – with our resolutions thanks to our new “this is my year to” campaign. We have all been sharing our resolutions by wearing buttons as well as tacking up notices on our store news board – check out the pictures! A sampling of resolutions I’ve seen:

This is my year to:

• Drink more water
• Volunteer
• Have more family dinners
• Switch from coffee to tea
• Get rich and move to Miami Read the rest of this entry »

Every year at Christmas my mother cooks an amazing feast. The main course rotates and the side dishes get tweaks according to what is fashionable in food that year, but we always, always, always have cranberry sauce. Not fancy cranberry sauce, mind you. Cranberry sauce from a can, spruced up with a few fresh berries. It might be served alongside horseradish encrusted prime rib with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and chestnut stuffing with rye bread and sausage, but there it is: the traditional Demase family cranberry sauce. Last year I tried to dress up the presentation a bit, but my mom wasn’t too excited about it (see picture). Read the rest of this entry »